On most days at the MGS refinery, we don’t melt down anything spectacular. Although there are some interesting pieces that come through, we haven’t refined items anywhere near as amazing as these. Here are five of the most expensive items in the world that happen to be made of gold.
The Henry Graves Super Complication Watch – in watch making, a complication is a feature other than the display of the hours, minutes, and seconds. The more complications in a watch, the more parts it requires – which in turn makes it more difficult to design, assemble, and repair. In the 1930s, millionaire playboy watch-collector Henry Graves was obsessed with having the world’s most complicated watch. Patek Philippe & Co. delivered the watch in eight years time (three years for development, five years for assembly), which featured 24 complications (including a star chart and perpetual calendar) and 18k gold casing. Only one was ever made.
Price: $11,002,500 at a Sotheby’s auction in 1999
Mitchell and King’s goldRush Rally Wax – in honor of the annual goldRush Rally, Scottish car-care product maker Mitchell and King started offering this car wax that uses premium cosmetic ingredients to give cars a golden shimmer. The bottle it comes in is fine grade titanium coated with 24k gold and encrusted with diamonds and Swarovski crystals.
Price: £65,000
World’s Most Expensive Hookah – luxury design firm Aurentum Switzerland crafted the world’s most expensive hookah by using gold, platinum, silver, diamonds, rubies, and fine crystal glass. The bulk of the hookah’s value comes from its intricate craftsmanship.
Price: $1,000,000
Lio Messi’s Left Foot – world-famous soccer player Lio Messi scored a record setting 91 goals in the 2012 season. To commemorate the occasion, Japanese jeweler Ginza Tanaka crafted a 55-pound solid gold replica of the player’s foot. The foot was available for purchase from March to June 2013 to benefit the Lio Messi Foundation. As part of the hoopla, 100 “mini-feet” made with 100 grams of gold were also on sale for $42,000 each, along with 50 gold-plated footprint molds for $94,500 each.
Price: $5,250,000
